Sensei rarely shares his own stories. Last evening though, he said, “When I was a sixteen, a very prominent and important criminal case was transferred to the local town court house. Despite being the winter holidays, the local judge agreed to hear the case because of its national importance. Our town was chosen because it was far away from the place where the crime had occurred and hence impartiality would be ensured. The case was open to the public, and I attended the hearings every day. That’s when I also noticed the Sensei, who headed this very Monastery before me, and who then eventually became my spiritual guide.
The case was really sad. The criminal was this decent looking man who had over the years married many rich women and girls and killed them after robbing them of their wealth. At least that’s what the County prosecutor said. The man defended himself and said, “I am cursed. The women I marry die for reasons beyond my control.” The judge had never judged such a ruthless criminal case before. The prosecutor solely relied on the testimony of the man’s aunt who lived with him and had seen the women die. I found it odd that no one ever questioned the aunt, but no one seemed to care. The man was assumed to be the culprit and the town increasingly turned hostile towards him. In the bars, tea houses and parlours the people of the town wished to see the man hanged.
A couple of days before the case was coming to a close, I sat next to Sensei and asked him, “Sensei, should the man be hanged to death or imprisoned for life?” Sensei looked at me and for the first time I saw in his eyes, a compassion that I have never seen before. Sensei said, “Son, we don’t even know if the man is actually guilty… how can we choose his punishment?”
I was bewildered. On the last day, after the prosecutor had completed his closing argument, and after the man had very desperately tried to defend himself, the Judge began to address the court. He cleared his throat and just as he spoke…..there was a LOUD voice that shouted “CUT!”
In a few dazed seconds we all realized what was happening! One of the world’s most famous Film Directors had SET the entire case up, including making the Judge and the public believe the case just to shoot the film in the most realistic way. This was a BIG big charade!!
The second part of the movie was shot later and as expected, the Man was innocent while the Aunt was the murderess. A year later, the Man won the Best Actor Award for his part in the film; the Aunt and the Prosecutor won best supporting roles…”
Sensei took a deep breath and then told all of us, “We quickly pass judgement on people in the courthouses of our minds. We decide who is guilty without considering all the facts. We seek punishment of people who sometimes are the least guilty of any crime. We persecute before we judge.”
*****